Electric connector



A. F..MESTON ELECTRIC CONNECTOR Filed April 24. '1936 A ril 23, 1940. A

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55 without, danger to the operator or to .any one serves asa secondswitch jaw, with pin 9|. Pin I Patented 23, 1940 I UNITED STATE'SYPATEN'T OFFICE 1 mmiflliiZL-m.

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3 Claims. (01. 173-328,)

My'invention has to do with the distribution of who may handle any of the partsmaking up the electricity and is directed to improvements in connector used to open" or part the conductor. flexible and adaptable circuits, especially to con- All conducting parts exposed by the separation nectors whereby such circuits can be readily and f t e c n e e C p the ven e 5 safely opened andclosed, disconnected from the. current sourcev by the 5 It is often desirable to supply electric current separating action. A child or other inexperito portable or alterable devices in the home and enced person can handle the detached end of in shops and laboratories making it necessary the conductor even though the other end remains to provide temporary or special circuits to conconnected to an energized terminal. 7

10 duct the current to the devices. Ordinarily such The principal object of the invention is to 1 a circuit is made up or installed with conductors provide means whereby an energized circuit can which are not connected to a current source until be opened and closed at one or more places in the circuit is ready to be used; then, by the simple and safe manner. closing of a switch or the insertion of a pronged Another object of the invention is to provide plug, a current source is connected into the cirmeans whereby a closed" and energized electrical 1- cuit. Such methods are relatively safe where circuit can be opened without exposing any enerthe wiring is all insulated and no terminals are gized conducting members. p exposed to permit personal contactv or undesir- Still another object of the invention is to able grounds should the lines be inadvertently include-in an electrical circuit which has to be connected to a current source. But inexperiopened manually or within reach of nontechni- :0 mental and testing laboratories, battery chargcal operators a simple but safe connector all ing stations, demonstration outfits, and about exposed parts of which are insulated from the the home-in installing decorative lighting flxcurrent source when the connector is opened tures, for instance, it is desirable to have conand no conducting parts of which are exposed ductors which can be readily broken or disconwhen the connector is closed. g5 nected so that one or both of the ends of the The manner in which the 'above and other conductor thus freed can be carried through or objects are realized by the invention will now be about equipment and then again joined, or condescribed, reference being had to the appended nected to selected terminals. drawing, in which:

3o Wires with ordinary terminals and connectors Fig. 1 illustrates, in longitudinal section on do not permit of such manipulation with safety. line I--l of Fig. 2, a connector element (and a If an ordinary pronged plug socket connector is fragment'of an outline of a complementary elepulled apart car must be taken that the exposed ment) comprising the novel features of the inprongs are on the dead end of the line; othervention;

wise, the p gs m y m into contact with Fig. 2 is an end viewtaken at 2-2 in Fig. 1;

conducting substances and short the circuit or Figs, 3 and 4 are cross-sections on lines 3-3 cause injury to persons who touch them. As a and 4 4, respectively, of Fig. 1; and

safety means the two conductors compr in the Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section on line 55 of circuit are connected into a common pronged Fi 2, I

plu so w t e p s is withdrawn from an Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 illustrate the construction energized Socket b01511 conductors are of a connector comprising connector elementj83 nected from thecurrent source. This arrangev and complementary and i i element indiment causes inconvenience where it is desirable cated by the fragmentary outline designated by to a d O y One Side Of n at timenumeral 8!. Conductor 85, here shown as a For i a Wiring Comprising dewlative lightstranded wire covered with insulation, is fasin fi ur for Christmas trees are ,made at tened within insulating casing 84 to switch jaw present w both ends the lighting circuit- .at; by threading it through holes, in jaw at permanently fastened into a common connector and, preferably, applying solder to the e in element, making it impossible to thread the wire t 1 1 Jawjfi fit t a depression incas- 50 and lights in and about the branches of the tree m 34 and. held therein by rivet one end 01 conveniently and in a manner that gives'athe which was anchored in casing when the latter most eflective results. was molded.

with the present invention it is possiblev to A switch blade, or key 92 is fastened to a conopen a single conductor in an energized circuit ducting member 88, the -free end- 88' of which .913 passes through an insulating plate 88 to which member 88' is fastened with rivets 98. Switch jaws 86 and 88 are spaced apart and held in' circuiting them and joining electrically pins 9! and 93 to conductor 85. Simultaneously, key 92 short circuits members, similar to members 88 and 88, in element 82and members 9| and 93 are electrically connected to the conductor, not shown, that is fastened to element 82. Opening 89' is purposely cut at an angle with the plane passing longitudinally through key 92, as shown in Fig. 2, in orderthat key 94 will be in the same plane with key 92 after it has been turned subsequent to .its introduction through opening 89'. This makes for a properly aligned and securely fastened connection after the elements are turned relative to each other. Member 81 and the assembly comprising plate 89 and member 88 are fastened in place in casing 84 by applying thermo-plastic material, such as a vinyl resin, while hot, to the outer edge 91 of casing 84 where it contacts the periphery of plate 89.

It will be noted that when connector element 88 is detached from connecting element 82 causing the withdrawal of switch blade 94, connecting member 9| and member 88 to which it is attached are left insulated from member 88 and conductor 85 by insulating plate 81. Simultaneously, switch blade 92 on pin 9! is withdrawn from the switch members in element 82 and member 93 and connected parts are left insulated from any source of current connected to element 82. In this type of connector the parts to be exposed are left insulated from sources of current immediately after sepa ation of the elements is begun.

The pins and connecting members which project from the connector elements to bring about connecting operations in opposing or complementary elements have been illustrated as preferably of bare metal such as brass strips or rods. Such pins are relatively cheap, are strong, make good electrical contacts, furnish ample current carrying capacity, and require but small openings for entrance into complementary elements. It is to be understood, however, that these connecting members are not limited in shape or material to the disclosures utilized herein to illustrate the invention. For instance, the connecting members may be metal coated in part by insulation.

I claim: a

1. A connector for electrically joining conductors comprising complementary connector elements each of which comprises a protective enclosure, jaws of a switch supported within the enclosure and insulated from each other, a conductor joined to one of said switch jaws, a switch blade connected to another switch jaw but held external of the protective enclosure, and an opening into the enclosure for the entrance of a switch blade attached to a complementary element, said, connector being further, characterized in that the switch'blades are fastened to the respective elements in such manner that, upon bringing the elements together, the blades are positioned at the entrance of the switch jaws and; upon turning the elements with respect to each other, the blades enter the jaws and short circuit them.

2. A connector for electrically joining conductors comprisingcomplementary connector elements each of which comprises a protective enclosure, jaws of a switch supported within the enclosure and .insulated from each other, a conductor joined to one of said switch jaws, a switch blade connected to another switch jaw but held external of the protective enclosure, and an opening into the enclosure for the entrance of a switch blade attached to a complementary element, said switch jaws having an opening between them into which at least a portion of the entering blade is inserted by asecondary movement of the blade thereby preventing withdrawal of the blade, the switch jaws being short circuited .while the blade is in the secondary and locked position.

3. A connector for electrically joining conductors comprising a plurality of complementary elements each of which elements comprises a terminal connected to one end of a conductor, means insulating and shielding the exposed portion of the conductor and the terminal, a conductive member one portion of which is supported within the insulating means in spaced relation tween a complementary conductive member and its terminal.

ARCI-IEBAID F. MESTON. 

